diff --git a/src/main/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/core/models/DbRef.java b/src/main/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/core/models/DbRef.java
index b551156b..c516b868 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/core/models/DbRef.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/core/models/DbRef.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.dtsx.astra.cli.core.models;
 
+import com.datastax.astra.internal.api.AstraApiEndpoint;
 import com.dtsx.astra.cli.core.CliContext;
 import com.dtsx.astra.cli.core.datatypes.Either;
 import com.dtsx.astra.cli.core.output.Highlightable;
@@ -19,6 +20,13 @@ public class DbRef implements Highlightable {
 
     public static Either<String, DbRef> parse(@NonNull String ref) {
         return ModelUtils.trimAndValidateBasics("Database name/id", ref).flatMap((trimmed) -> {
+            try {
+                val endpoint = AstraApiEndpoint.parse(trimmed);
+                return Either.pure(new DbRef(Either.left(endpoint.getDatabaseId())));
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // not a valid Astra endpoint URL, fall through
+            }
+
             try {
                 return Either.pure(new DbRef(Either.left(UUID.fromString(trimmed))));
             } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/unit/core/models/DbRefTest.java b/src/test/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/unit/core/models/DbRefTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..49bc6643
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/dtsx/astra/cli/unit/core/models/DbRefTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package com.dtsx.astra.cli.unit.core.models;
+
+import com.dtsx.astra.cli.core.models.DbRef;
+import com.dtsx.astra.cli.unit.BaseParseableTest;
+import lombok.val;
+import net.jqwik.api.Example;
+import net.jqwik.api.Group;
+
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+public class DbRefTest extends BaseParseableTest.WithTrimAndBasicValidation {
+    private static final UUID SAMPLE_ID = UUID.fromString("822b0fff-6a73-4322-a8ec-09832b075287");
+
+    public DbRefTest() {
+        super("Database name/id", DbRef::parse);
+    }
+
+    @Group
+    public class from_name {
+        @Example
+        public void parses_plain_name_as_name_ref() {
+            val result = DbRef.parse("my-database");
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isName()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo("my-database");
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Group
+    public class from_uuid {
+        @Example
+        public void parses_uuid_as_id_ref() {
+            val result = DbRef.parse(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Group
+    public class from_endpoint_url {
+        @Example
+        public void parses_prod_api_endpoint() {
+            val url = "https://" + SAMPLE_ID + "-us-east1.apps.astra.datastax.com";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+        }
+
+        @Example
+        public void parses_dev_api_endpoint() {
+            val url = "https://" + SAMPLE_ID + "-ap-south-1.apps.astra-dev.datastax.com";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+        }
+
+        @Example
+        public void parses_endpoint_with_path() {
+            val url = "https://" + SAMPLE_ID + "-us-east1.apps.astra.datastax.com/api/json/v1";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+        }
+
+        @Example
+        public void parses_swagger_endpoint() {
+            val url = "https://" + SAMPLE_ID + "-ap-south-1.apps.astra-dev.datastax.com/api/json/swagger-ui";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(result.getRight().toString()).isEqualTo(SAMPLE_ID.toString());
+        }
+
+        @Example
+        public void falls_back_to_name_for_non_astra_url() {
+            val url = "https://some-other-host.example.com/path";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isName()).isTrue();
+        }
+
+        @Example
+        public void falls_back_to_name_when_url_has_no_uuid_prefix() {
+            val url = "https://not-a-uuid-at-all.apps.astra.datastax.com";
+            val result = DbRef.parse(url);
+            assertThat(result.getRight().isName()).isTrue();
+        }
+    }
+}